Emotions that showed how much Soriano cared

A great football coach once told me... "Give me twelve men that will cry in a sad movie, and I will give you a state champion."

Deanna and I really enjoyed your recent stories about Louis Soriano.

One of my fondest memories of Louie that illustrated to us his emotional side was the night that we made our final presentation on the naming of the gym and court at Bremerton High School to the school board recommendation committee. This group of five was selected to give the final thumbs up or down on the naming project that we had worked long and hard on: Les Eathorne Gym and Ken Wills Court.

We had received flak from a segment of our community that strongly objected to the manner in which Coach Wills died. We invited Louie to speak, thinking that this community icon could persuade any to accept Coach Wills in lieu of all the good he did for our youth.

When I called Louie to the mic to show support, all he could do was stay in his seat and cry like the world ended. This show of emotion removed any doubt that the committee of five may have had. They unanimously endorsed the naming of the gym and court.

We never got to meet Coach Wills, but Louie’s show of emotion told us a lot about the impact that this great man had on youngsters.

Lane and Deanna Dowell, Bremerton

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